See Photos of the feeding techniques
Feeding
Humpback whales (like all baleen whales) only feed in the
summer, living off their fat reserves in the
winter. Their diet consists of: tiny crustaceans (e.g., krill),
plankton, and small fish (including herring, mackerel, capelin,
and sandeel). During feeding season, Humpback whales can eat
anywhere between 3,000 - 5,5500 pounds (1,360
kg - 2495 kg) of the animals above per day.
Bubble Net Feeding in three easy steps:
1. A pod of whales blows bubbles while swimming in circles to
create a ring of bubbles (the ring can be up to 100 feet or 30
meters in diameter)
2. The ring encircles the fish, which are too scared to cross
the bubbles. The whales swim in a smaller and smaller circles,
tightening the ring and making high pitched sounds to confuse
the fish
3. The whales then suddenly swim upward through the bubble net,
mouths agape, swallowing thousands of fish in one gulp
The video below is an awesome demonstration of Humpback whales bubble net feeding on a school of herring
In case the video above is ever take down due to copyright
claims, similar feeding videos can be found at:
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http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-vJvfjiCTvq4/humpback_whale_hunting_technique/
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http://animal.discovery.com/videos/weird-true-freaky-humpback-whales-bubble-netting.html
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http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/planet-earth-ice-worlds-humpback-hunt.html